Artsyfutsy's Blog

Cellissimo was held at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Hall on Tuesday the 9th of March 7.30pm. I know it was 5 days ago and I sincerrely apologise for the late review due to my everest of homework. I watched the concert partly because my Cellist sister wanted someone to watch it with her and partly becase I was craving to hear Professor Qin Li wei’s student, Wu Dai Dai play.

The whole programme consisted of 8 solo pieces and 2 pieces arranged for 4 Cellos. It was a concert for the Conservatory students under Professor Qin Li Wei and Professor Leslie Tan. It was quite obvious who studied under who by their playing styles and the way they expressed their music.

The programme opened with Chen Xi playing Beethoven’s 7 Variations on a 1896 Josef Muller Cello on loan to her from Mr and Mrs Rin Kei Mei. There were a few notes played wrongly but she went on as if nothing happened.

The second piece was Franck’s Sonata in A Major (Allegreto ben moderato) played by Wei Bing on a beautiful 1759 Andrea Castagneri on loan to her by Mr and Mrs Rin Kei Mei. Wei Bing was the only female of the night dressed in black pants and blouse. Her playing was very vigorous and expressive as can be seen from her movements and facial expressions. Unfortunately, she was over-zealous and used too much strength while bowing and one could hear the ear-grating sound of a Cello screeching. Ouch!

The 3rd piece was Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo Capriccioso, Op. 62 played by Li Mengqi on a 1856 Vincenzo Postiglione on loan to her by Mr and Mrs Rin Kei Mei. I loved her fire-engine red satin gown but not her playing. She lacked expression, did not have the guts to explore the unknown and stayed to the safe path instead. Tchaikovsky wouldn’t have approved of the way she interpreted his piece.

The last piece before the intermission was Crumb’s Sonata for solo Cello (1. Fantasia: Andante espressivo e con molto rubato 2. Tema pastorale con variazioni 3. Toccata: Largo e drammatico-Allegro Vivace) played by the star of the evening, Wu Dai Dai on a 1853 Guadagnini (One of the best Cellos available and extremely valuable with a 6 figure price tag) on loan to her by Mr and Mrs Rin Kei Mei. Wu Dai Dai is the daughter of a Cellist and is the winner of the 2009 Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concerto Competition. I applaud her for her boldness in choosing an extremely rare and uncommon piece. The title is self-explanatory, the piece is a solo piece with Piano accompaniment. The piece started with her strumming all 4 Cello strings vigrously and there was a lot of Pizzicatos involved. It was an extremely dramatic piece and she expressed it well as was evident from her face twisting and contorting in agony. (She had a murderous look on her face and looked like she wanted to strangle her Cello.) However, I found her a little too “noisy”.  By “noisy”, I am referring to the stomping of her foot and her loud breathing/snorting sounds she makes to cue herself in before every phrase. I felt that was unnecessary, noisy and irritating. Music should not be tarnished by these extra noises just like how incesstant couging in the audience disrupts a concert.  Apart from that, needless to say, her playing was flawless from her dynamics and her intonation, right to the smallest detail.

Xie Tian opened the second half with Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 102 (Allegro con brio) and Popper’s Elfentanz on a 1909 Paul Francois Blanchard Cello on loan to him by Mr and Mrs Rin Kei Mei. Unfortunately, his performance was mediocre. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I watched the concert after CCA and was too tired or maybe it was because he played it in an extremely boring manner but I’m sorry to say, I fell asleep. Some famous Pianist once told me that Beethoven is very difficult because only very good musicians can make it sound beautiful and interesting while mediocre musicians only make it sound boring. …….. I’ll leave you to ponder on that.

My jaw almost dropped when Pan Chang walked in with his 1808 Angelo Soliani Cello on loan to him by Mr and Mrs Rin Kei Mei to play Lutoslawski’s Grave. Pan Chang on first glance closely resembles Chinese Pop legend Jay Chou but on a closer look, Mr Pan has bigger eyes and sharper features, definitely more good looking than Mr Chou! Ok back to the topic.  Pan Chang, like Wu Dai Dai, chose a very unusual piece. Lutoslawski is a very grave, slow piece with a lot of low notes. Pan Chang’s low notes were very rich and had a beautiful timbre to it but his high notes sounded uncomfortably shrilling to the ear. No wonder he chose a piece filled with low notes to showcase his rich timbre.

The last solo piece was Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 (Allegro) played by Lu Bingxia on her own Cello. She was very expressive but by then, my ears and mind already went into music overload and I kind of shut down.

The last 2 pieces of the evening was played by a Quartet consisting of Elizabeth Tan, Xie Tian, Zhang Hui and an unidentified female. They played 2 pieces——Handel’s Lascia Ch’io Pianga from “Rinaldo” for 4 Cellos and Joplin’s The Entertainer arranged for 4 Cellos. Handel is a very sweet piece with beautiful harmonies that mesmerised me. Joplin is a very fun piece with a jazzy feel to it. Elizabeth played then Xie Tian answered her while the other two played the harmony in the background. The piece toyed with the tempo and dynamics in a way that made the piece seem very jovial and light-hearted. It was a beautiful way of closing the concert. It left us all feeling happy and light-hearted after a long day of school and work.

All the solo pieces except Wu Dai Dai’s, were accompanied by Low Shao Ying. Needless to say, her accompaniment was nothing short of perfection. She has a very graceful style. Her fingers look like they are plucking the strings of a harp and they seem to float across the ivories even when she’s playing at the speed of Vivace. I just adore her playing style from the way she sits to the way her fingers dance across the keys.

I have enjoyed myself at this concert but the students still have a lot more to learn from their teachers.

-Sarah